Page 43 of Grounded
"We can bounce around ideas for Roasted. I need some summer promotions since business has been tapering off after 4:00 p.m. No one wants coffee in the late afternoon."
"Benny, you should have a movie night! You have such a big outdoor patio, you could play movies and have themed drinks. Doesn't have to be coffee. Could even be alcoholic beverages. Do you need your liquor license to pour?"
"I actually have it. Back when we first opened it made sense just in case, but I've never utilized it. I'll have to see if it expired. This sounds amazing. Did you think of this off the top of your head?"
"Movies have been my whole life. Naturally, I would think of something revolving around that. You could even move all the patio furniture and put a huge screen outside. A movie on the beach? What could be better than that?"
"I love it. Let me figure out the schedule for the rest of the month and I'll text you."
"Sounds great. See you later."
When I walk out of Roasted, the only place left to go is home, and I don't want to if Theo is there.
I could always run to Target and spend $500 I don't have, but that's not the responsible choice.
I don't even have Theo's number to see where he is, and I'm not about to ask Tawny for it.
Pulling up Molly's text thread, I see I haven't texted her in almost a year. Wow. Have I not given my stepmom a chance? Am I that cruel? Did she stop trying because I wasn't receptive to her kind gestures at all?
Maybe my dad is right. Maybe I'm back home so I can get to know her better.
She replies a few minutes later and shares Theo's contact information.
My thank you reply includes a suggestion of dinner out, just the two of us, sometime soon. I can already sense the excitement when she replies. Okay, one step in the right direction.
But my heart instantly shrivels up into a raisin when I begin to type a text to Theo. I nearly gag as I press in each number.
I could have at least introduced myself, but I don't care to give him that courtesy.
"Ahh!" I screech, realizing he must not know it's me. I even drop my phone like it's on fire.
Are they already on a sexting basis? How did this move so fast? Does he not save phone numbers and text threads?
I'm thankful he didn't add the "in bed" portion because I don't want to know what he's doing in bed at home alone.
DidIknowAmeliawas texting? Of course! I love fucking around with her. It's even more fun than arguing. It's only fair for all the times she did it to me when we were teenagers.
She would constantly walk around the house in her bikini, knowing exactly what it did to my raging hormones.
It's payback now that I actually have something worth teasing her over. Plus seeing her freak out and getting a rise out of her is the best part of my day.
When she finally graces me with her presence, our parents aren't home yet and it's almost dinner time.
"You get lost?" I ask.
"No, as a matter of fact. I did not."
She doesn't elaborate, which means she killed time to avoid me.
"Are you going to tell on me because I brought someone back to the house?"
"No, that's not my business. If sneaking women into your room is the only way for you to seal the deal, that's your prerogative."
"I didn't sneak her in. The timing was right, and our parents happened to be away." I'm implying more happened than it did. "And don't judge me. I'm sure you'll be doing the same thing sooner or later."
"Theo, I just got out of a relationship. Less than a month. You think I'd be hooking up with guys already?"
"Why not?"
